Labour ex-minister to step down as MP - potentially paving way for Andy Burnham to run for parliament

A suspended Labour MP has announced he is stepping down, triggering a by-election.

Andrew Gwynne, who was suspended from Labour over offensive WhatsApps, will soon retire from his Gorton and Denton constituency in Greater Manchester on medical grounds. This will trigger a by-election, which could potentially pave the way for Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to become an MP, a step he would need to take to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership.

Politics latest: 29 council elections postponed One of the most popular figures in the Labour Party, former Blair and Brown minister Mr Burnham has long been rumoured to be considering a return to Westminster politics. After a series of resignations and sackings from Sir Keir's close circle, rumours ramped up in September that Mr Burnham was looking to challenge the prime minister.

Mr Gwynne, a former Labour health minister, who is sitting as an independent while he awaits the results of a parliamentary standards investigation, said it has "been the honour of my life" to serve as an MP for 21 years. But he said he has "suffered significant ill health" over most of that time and his GP has advised that despite treatment and support he still has "a marked dissociation between the reality of his difficulties and the 'front' that he shows to the world".

Mr Gwynne took the unusual step of publishing his GP's advice, which also said he "remains on very high dose medication" for his mental health and he does "not think that he will be able safely to return to work as an MP". He said Mr Gwynne experienced "rapid deterioration" in February last year when the MP's WhatsApp messages were leaked to the media.

They included racist comments about Labour MP Diane Abbott, sexist remarks about then-deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, saying he hoped a pension would soon die after asking a councillor about bin collections and joking about a constituent being "mown down" by a truck. The Labour Party said it is looking forward to Gorton and Denton residents getting to choose a new Labour MP but made no hints as to who that could be.

Mr Gwynne's constituency, on the outskirts of Manchester, has been seen as a potential seat for Mr Burnham for a while. The "King of the North.